Is My B.A. bs?

It’s going to be fun for all of you to watch my mental decay as the stresses of post-college planning eat me alive! No, but in all seriousness, it’s a scary transition. Granted I’ve got a few months left…but…the pressure is getting to me already! A barrage of questions haunt my daily life. Where will I live? Where will I work? Will I get into a graduate program? Should I take some time off before starting grad school? Ahhh, the questions are endless!

Most of us are geared towards college from birth, the expectations of our parents weighing heavily on us. We’re prepped for the SAT’s, a rigorous aptitude test that is a horrible indicator of our ability to succeed in college. I did really well on my own exam and I still feel utter contempt for it! Then there is the oh-so-fun application process. For some us, there are challenging Advanced Placement courses and exams. Interviews where we wear our best and talk our sharpest game, silently pleading “Pick me! Pick me! Oh, won’t you please pick me?!” And sleep? Who needs sleep? But, we are told that if only we can get into a good school our futures are assured. What a crock of BS!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a strong advocate for higher educations and consider it to be a valuable and precious acquisition in life. I wouldn’t change my decision to attend college for anything in the world. It’s been a very rewarding and eye-opening experience, to say the least. Is my future assured, however? Certainly not, I would argue. It was very tactical of our parents and guidance counselors to force us into believing that we would all graduate rich, convertible and beach house in tow. Dream job waiting for me. And can you blame them? What should they say? “Um…yeah, so after four years of hard work, you may or may not land that stellar job. But hey, after 15 years of odd jobs or putting up with riff raff, you might enter into the field of your choice!” Hmm.

I have this theory. Today, a Bachelor’s Degree seems to be the new high school diploma. That is, potential employers are no longer wooed by you simply because you’ve gotten a four-year degree. College graduates are, to put it crudely, a dime a dozen. We are flooding the “real world” at high volumes, competing against people as able and perseverant as we are. This is definitely not aided by the fact that our job economy is looking bleak and not improving fast enough. Many of my college grad friends are working less than glam jobs to pay the bills. They’re cashiers at Barnes and Noble, baristas at Starbucks. One’s a security guard. Are their psychology, history and business degrees irrelevant?

Potential employers, I’m told want to see experience. They want to see growth in you, and not just your ability to memorize terms from an overpriced textbook. Spewing out Marxist rhetoric and knowing the definition of Comparative Advantage won’t cut it. It’s a Catch-22 of sorts—if they won’t give you the experience then who will? We are inclined then to get our Master’s, our doctorates. And p.s. still no guarantees. Do we have to know people in high places? Call up that favor owed to us by the Mafia? Give up and become pajama-clad, soap-opera loving couch potatoes? I mean, school ONLY cost $120,000. No big deal.

My advice would be to keep on keepin’ on. You should be engaged in things that make you happy and make you feel personally fulfilled. My friends have often heard me rant about passion and how it’s what makes this world churn. It’s so true. Keep after the things that you feel strongly about. If you want it, really want it, you will find a way of making it happen. If academia is your thing, then by all means, pursue it! Whether it is world travel, or sports or belly dancing, you must keep after the things that make you happy. Even if this goes against the expectations society has mandated. As they say, you only live once. Make it count, my friends.It should also be said that there is a boundless education outside of the conventional college environment. Life itself is the greatest education you could ever hope to receive. Your daily interactions with people are more complex and rewarding than any book could be. Come May, I most likely won’t be Ambassador to the United Nations, but it is a new beginning. A chance for me to really prove what I’m made of.

I’ve jumped around a lot in this blog, I hope you’ve kept up and aren’t utterly confused. I also hope I haven’t scared the bejesus out of you—I just want those wheels in your head turning!

So, Where to Begin?

Hello Everyone!

I’m very excited to be one of the newest additions to the TeenWeb family—a lot of great things go on here and it’s a pleasure to be a part of them.

Ah…the introductions. My name is Jane Cinsov and I am 21 years old. I currently live in New York City, which is in my opinion, one of the greatest places in the world. I suppose you could call me a “Jane of all trades.” Namely, I am a poet, a writer, an artist, an activist, a student, a musical fanatic, an idealist, and now, a BLOGGER. I seriously love to do it all! Our good friend and the originator of TeenWeb, Billy Hallowell, has asked me to share my life with all of you. I’ll do my best.

Through this blog I hope to give you a peak into my personal life—relationships, my remaining college experience and my take on news and politics. My expertise, so to speak, is in the realm of current events and foreign affairs. I stay (fairly) up-to-date with international news and it has been my area of study for the past four years of college. I’m just so intrigued by the interconnectivity and dependence of our world, the evolving relations among nations and what this means to the rest of us. There is certainly never a dull moment. As the next generation of “movers and shakers,” it’s so important for us to be knowledgeable about the present shape of our domestic and international systems. We’re going to be the ones responsible for upholding, mending and instituting policies that affect the international community.

It can be disheartening to find that so many of our peers do not follow the news or are simply not interested. But hey, to each his/her own! Hopefully, my humble blog can provide some insight to what’s been going on. It’s still a very new idea, but Billy and I have been discussing opening up an official “spot” for international happenings. It’d be a great resource for fast news and a forum for discussion and idea sharing. As we work out all the details and kinks, we’ll keep you updated. Any suggestions? Please let us know!

Anyway, it’s going to be great sharing my life with you! Keep on coming back!